1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to detergent dispensers and, more particularly, to detergent dispensers of the type for dispensing detergent into washer system appliances such as dishwashers and the like.
2. Description of Related Art
In a typical dishwasher appliance, detergent is measured out manually and placed into the washer each time the washer is operated. The manual dispensing of detergent is not a precise or measured process. It may happen that not enough detergent is added, in which case the dishware may not be adequately cleaned. Alternatively, too much detergent may be added, in which case a residue may cling to the dishware after the wash cycle. Furthermore, the use of excessive amounts of detergent results in waste and added cost.
It has been known to use a side-mounted detergent dispenser (typically installed in the door of the dishwasher) to enable appliance users to measure proper amounts of detergent for each wash cycle. However, these dispensers are simply fixed containers or cavities that must be manually filled by the appliance user prior to each wash cycle. One of the problems with this type of detergent dispenser is that if the detergent is not completely washed out of the dispenser cavity during the wash cycle, the remaining detergent will dry and form an accumulating residue. This residue results in faulty detergent measurements and requires frequent cleaning of the dispenser. In this way, such dispensers of this type are actually a burden on the users, and do not improve efficiency.